The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in France on July 2, 2002 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 88)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: My millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of my paramārādhya guru-pāda-padma, oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. And the same, unto the lotus feet of my śikṣā-guru, oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja.

You should know why we are indebted to our gurudeva. If you don’t know, then you will have no guru-niṣṭhā at all. Why are we indebted to our guru? First, we should know, and then guru-niṣṭhā will come; then bhakti will come. This guru-niṣṭhā is the backbone of bhakti. When we know the glory of the guru, and we understand what the guru has done for us, then guru-niṣṭhā will come, and we can serve. Just as anyone knows his father and mother and feels he has some duty towards them. But we should feel even more of a sense of duty towards gurudeva.

Since time immemorial, from the beginning of the first creation, we have been suffering so much. You know how you have been suffering, but we have forgotten how and in what way. But surely, we were suffering, and gurudeva kindly and forcibly took our śikhā (tuft of hair at the top of the head) and dragged us out of that suffering. Though we never wanted to drink nectar, he forcibly took our hands, opened our mouths, and made us drink. For example, we see:

vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasaṁ prayatnair
apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham
kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī
sanātanas taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi

Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (6)

[“I was unwilling to drink the nectar of bhakti possessed of renunciation, but Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, being an ocean of mercy who cannot tolerate the sufferings of others, made me drink it. Therefore, I take shelter of him as my master.”]

Prayatnair means ‘forcibly.’ We don’t want to take this nectar. I say, “You should wake up in the morning.” You are tasting the happiness of sleeping, but gurudeva comes with a bucket of water — cold water, very cold; this is his mercy. We don’t want to do bhajana; we don’t want to do bhajana. Especially, sometimes we want to be very far away from our guru because he is so strict. We don’t want to be near him.

But the guru drags him and forcibly gives him the nectar of bhakti. Thus, when he develops his Kṛṣṇa consciousness and comes to the platform of madhyama-adhikārī, then he can somewhat understand the glory of the guru more and more. When he knows, “Oh, my gurudeva forcibly took me, and now I am free from birth and death, sorrows and suffering,” then he will know the glory of the guru.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī knows the glory of Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva knows the glory of Nārada. I think that as much as one develops, one realises the mercy of the guru and the Vaiṣṇava both. The guru and the Vaiṣṇava are not separate. Even Kṛṣṇa is not separate from the guru and Vaiṣṇava — Hari, guru, Vaiṣṇava. These three are all one. They are all the same. We should not differentiate between them. But we will differentiate between them when we serve them. One is viṣaya Bhagavān (the object of service), and another is āśraya Bhagavān (the abode of love and service).

Then āśraya Bhagavān is divided into two: the Vaiṣṇava and the guru. But all are the same. We should try to know these things. When you know, “What my gurudeva has given me is more than nectar, even though I did not want it,” then you will give up your whole life for gurudeva. Especially, if gurudeva is at the stage of kṛṣṇa–bhakti–rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ (consciousness which is absorbed in the mood of spontaneous devotional service to Kṛṣṇa) and that the guru gives a greed for the service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Conjugal, with an inclination towards the service of Rādhikā, then you will give your whole heart and everything to that gurudeva.

But when we don’t know all these things, we cannot give anything to gurudeva. We will have no attachment to gurudeva. But when this kind of attachment arises toward gurudeva, then you can do bhajana; otherwise, not. In the realm of bhajana, first attachment will come to that gurudeva who is giving something. But when will this attachment come? When will you realise all these things. At first, we cannot have this kind of attachment for gurudeva.

A kaniṣṭha-adhikārī can give up his gurudeva at any time, as the ISKCON leaders and so many devotees left Svāmījī (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja), even when Svāmījī was present in this world. Now, they are all thinking that Svāmījī is dead. They do not have much attraction for him. When Svāmījī was alive, their life was not for themselves. At that time, they were all brahmacārīs, fully engaged in the service of Svāmījī. All the senior devotees you are seeing now, they were all brahmacārīs at the time of Svāmījī. You should try to follow your guru completely. If there is no guru-niṣṭhā, there is no bhakti. You will be bewildered like mad persons, here and there.

That is why my first class is about the guru. You should realise who the guru is. There is no position greater, bigger, or higher than that of a guru. He is a guru. Even if Kṛṣṇa is there on one side of a scale and the guru is on the other side, who is heavier? Who is heavier? Kṛṣṇa is on one side, and on the other side is the entire mercy of Kṛṣṇa (as the guru). Whose weight will be heavier? Whose? The guru’s. All the mercy of Kṛṣṇa — totally, solely, fully — is on one side. And on the other side, without mercy, is Kṛṣṇa (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja and all the devotees laugh). You should try to realise these things. If Kṛṣṇa is not happy with us, no harm, no harm.

yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam (8)

[“One receives Kṛṣṇa’s benedictions by the mercy of the spiritual master, and one cannot make any advancement without his grace. Therefore, I should always remember and praise him. At the three junctions of the day – morning, noon, and evening – I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.”]

What is the meaning?

Devotee: If one pleases the spiritual master, then Kṛṣṇa is automatically pleased. And if the spiritual master is not pleased, then there is no way that Kṛṣṇa will be pleased.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Why? Is there a worldly example? The sun is there, very hot, and lotus flowers are there in the water. If its root is in the water, and water is always supplied, then the sun makes that lotus flower blossom. But if water is not there, the lotus flower will die at once. You should think about this.

Here, Kṛṣṇa is like the sun, and the guru is like the water. This is not a thing or impression that anyone can give you or inspire in you: “You should have so much faith or niṣṭhā in your gurudeva.” It depends on you how you have realised this thing. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has written this Guruvaṣṭakam, how beautiful and charming! He realised these things, and he used to serve his gurudeva in that way.

nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai
yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā
tatrāti-dākṣyād ati-vallabhasya
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam (6)

[“The spiritual master is very dear, because he is expert in assisting the gopīs, who at different times make different tasteful arrangements for the perfection of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal loving affairs within the groves of Vṛndāvana. I offer my most humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.”]

He saw and realised that his guru is like that, and then he had so much niṣṭhā in his guru. Narottama Ṭhākura realised the glory of his guru, Lokanātha dāsa Gosvāmī. If Jīva Gosvāmī was not there as his instructor, then who would have sent him to Lokanātha das Gosvāmī, and how would Narottama Ṭhākura have realised this? Thus, I request you all to be faithful to gurudeva and try to realise his glory, what he is doing for the conditioned souls and how he is remembering and meditating on Nityānanda Prabhu, Gauracandra, or Śrī Rādhikā. Then you can have so much niṣṭhā in gurudeva, and then you can serve. You should try to realise this.

Now, in the evening, we will begin our classes. Sometimes I may also come in the morning, just like I did this time, and for a few minutes I will give a class. After that, you should decide who will give the classes. We should engage everyone so much that they have no time to think about other things. Their minds should always be engaged, and we should try to forget our homes, our horses, and other things. You should totally give it your mind and practice continuously for at least seven days.

Try to also serve in the kitchen or do other services, and thus go on. I want you to be totally engaged, whether or not I am here. You should always be thinking, meditating, remembering, and singing about Kṛṣṇa and Rādhikā. Especially, you should try to read Caitanya-caritāmṛta. New books have also come out, such as Jaiva-dharma and a book on the life of my gurudeva, which is quite excellent. So much tattva, all tattva has been given there. Bhajana-rahasya has also come out. I wanted to give you the high-class ideas of Bhajana-rahasya, but it’s best to wait.

First, I will give these things. I am going to give you something now, and after that, I will give you more. But try to do bhajana as described in Bhajana-rahasya. Try to follow Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s process in Bhajana-rahasya completely. Try to know these things and try to do bhajana like that.

What Kṛṣṇa has arranged for your maintenance, you should be satisfied with that. Don’t do more; otherwise, your energy will go into those things. Then your bhajana will be weak, and you will be more entangled in worldly things.

Devotee: Gurudeva, last night I was giving a class on guru-tattva and saying, as you say now, that gurudeva knows more than Kṛṣṇa and is heavier than Kṛṣṇa. You said in Alachua that Kṛṣṇa is so busy, playing with the cows and the cowherd boys, that He’s not aware of the suffering of the living entities. But the guru is His condensed mercy, so he knows more than Kṛṣṇa. Then, at the end of the class, somebody asked: “Is that quality also there in a sādhana-siddha guru, or is it only in the nitya-siddha guru, who is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa Himself?”

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If he is siddha, then there is no question whether he is sādhana-siddha or nitya-siddha. There is no difference at all.

Devotee: We are conditioned souls now, but if we ever become perfect, then that quality will also be in us?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: When one is realised, and one goes there, then one will see how they are. But now, one should see that if the guru is siddha (perfect) through sādhana, or a nitya-siddha, one should not differentiate. Go on and show them proper respect.

Devotee: Gurudeva has given one example: there is gold coming from a gold mine, and, through some alchemical process, bell metal can be transformed into gold. In the end, both are gold.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Gaura-premānande!

Source(s): Purebhakti.com, Serve Love – Bhakta Bandhav (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net

Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)